THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 1, 1994 TAG: 9407010502
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 112 lines
Depending on how one looks at it, the NCAA survey providing athletic graduation rates for the nation's Division I schools contains bad news or good news for Old Dominion.
The number at the top of Old Dominion's two-page report was not good. Of the 42 student-athletes who entered Old Dominion during the 1987-88 school year, 38 percent (16) graduated from ODU in the allotted six years.
For the second consecutive year, the Monarchs' athletic graduation rate ranks last among the state's 11 Division I schools and last in the eight-team Colonial Athletic Association in which Old Dominion competes. Atop the list of state and CAA schools was William and Mary at 87 percent, while Virginia's graduation rate was 80 percent and Richmond's 76 percent.
The average graduation rate for athletes at the 301 Division I schools was 57 percent.
But Old Dominion athletic director Jim Jarrett prefers to look at the bottom of the page of statistics to find a better-looking number.
Jarrett issued a press release Thursday to point out the Monarchs are above the national average in another statistic that he he believes is a better barometer of how an athletic program is performing academically.
Old Dominion's graduation rate among athletes who entered school in 1987-88 and exhausted their eligibility at the school is 86 percent, above the national average of 77 percent. In that category the Monarchs rank in the middle of the pack of state schools and tied for fifth in their league.
The ``exhausted eligibility'' rate measures the percentage of students who graduate after completing their athletic eligibility in a program. The graduation rate simply measures the percentage of freshmen who enroll and then graduate at the school within six years. Transfers and those who leave school early for professional careers or other reasons count against a school in compiling a graduation rate.
``I consider the exhausted eligibility graduation rate a much better academic barometer,'' Jarrett said. ``I think it shows the universities are either graduating athletes that exhaust their eligibility or they are not. The other one (the regular graduation rate) is more a measure of attrition at your university than it is a measure of academics.''
Jerry Kingston, the chairman of the NCAA's Academic Requirements Committee, does not disagree. Kingston, speaking in a conference call with reporters, called the exhausted eligibility rate figure a ``meaningful statistic.''
``There is some information that the exhausted eligibility rates provide that is, in a sense, more accurate,'' Kingston said. ``It's less likely to be affected by the transfer situation.
``On the other hand, if you bring a student in and after a couple of years the student is not able to make progress academically and drops out, that student does not show up in your exhausted eligibility rate.
``I think both (rates) contain useful information and both need to be interpreted carefully for what they do mean, as well as what they do not mean,'' Kingston said.
All seven female athletes who entered ODU in 1987-88 graduated, but just nine of 35 males graduated. Jarrett identified three programs - baseball, men's basketball and wrestling - that dragged down ODU's graduation rate.
Baseball's 15 percent graduation rate was partly due to four players turning pro before completing their eligibility.
Basketball had a 0 percent rate, having lost both its incoming freshmen in 1987-88 to transfer.
Wrestling had what was termed ``attrition and academic problems.''
Of the 26 scholarship athletes who enrolled at ODU in 1987-88 and did not graduate, Jarrett said four left early to accept pro contracts, nine transferred and 13 dropped out for other reasons. He said of the transfers and dropouts, only one was academically ineligible to continue attending school.
``We're not happy with (38 percent), but the number isn't as bad as it looks like once you analyze the data,'' Jarrett said.
ODU's athletic graduation rate in last year's report was also 38 percent. The graduation rate for all students entering school in this year's report was 47 percent, a slight improvement over the 45 percent the school logged last year. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
REPORT CARD
Graduation rates for students who entered Virginia Division I
schools in the 1987-88 school year, in percent:
School All students Athletes
Old Dominion 47 38
George Mason 51 60
James Madison 81 72
Richmond 79 76
William and Mary 92 87
Virginia Tech 73 70
Virginia 92 80
Liberty 37 54
Radford 52 51
VCU 45 64
Virginia Military 65 55
National avg. 56 57
Graduation rates for athletes who exhausted their eligibility
after entering Virginia Division I school in the 1987-88 school
year, in percent:
Exhausted
School eligibility rate
Old Dominion 86
George Mason 86
James Madison 90
Richmond 98
William and Mary 96
Virginia Tech 76
Virginia 95
Liberty 72
Radford 71
VCU 83
Virginia Military 95
National average 77
by CNB